Three people are reported dead after a shooting at a Jewish Community Center and the Village Shalom retirement village in Overland Park, Kansas. It is reported that police took a man into custody who was screaming “Heil Hitler” at reporters. The Forward reports that the gunman “reportedly shouted Nazi slogans.”
This shooting occurred a day before Passover begins tomorrow night at sundown. If the reports from The Forward are correct, then this represents an anti-Semitic murder as preparations for that upcoming holiday are well underway.
Here in New York, we are used to police coming to our synagogues on the eves of holidays, and during the holidays themselves, to check up and make sure that everything is okay. Such is the risk of anti-Semitic incidents occurring even here in the United States. Even though such risks have declined significantly the past several years, there were still 751 anti-Semitic incidents in the United States according to an audit performed by the Anti-Defamation League. Most ominous is this fact:
While the total number of anti-Semitic incidents declined overall, one dark spot in the numbers was a significant increase in violent anti-Semitic assaults. The Audit recorded a total of 31 anti-Semitic assaults on Jewish individuals or those perceived as Jewish in 2013, up from 17 in 2012.
Of the overall results, ADL national director Abraham Foxman said:
“In the last decade we have witnessed a significant and encouraging decline in the number and intensity of anti-Semitic acts in America,” said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director. “The falling number of incidents targeting Jews is another indication of just how far we have come in finding full acceptance in society, and it is a reflection of how much progress our country has made in shunning bigotry and hatred.”
That said, there is a significant way to go, both in terms of anti-Semitism and bigotry in general. Today’s shooting is a reminder of that. There are three families that will be burying their loved ones tomorrow before they sit down for their Passover seder. There will be three empty chairs. Twelve cups of wine that will not be drunk. Three haggadot that will remain unopened.
I don’t think there’s anything else I can say. 🙁
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